Jaya Bachchan: Wouldn't be wrong to term Smita Patil as the queen of Indian parallel Cinema

October 17, 2014 11:59:56 AM ISTBy Mansoor Khan, Glamsham Editorial

Smita Patil, the exceptionally talented actress, in a brief career wrote her name in golden letters in annals of Indian Cinema. October 17 marks her birth anniversary; Glamsham.Com remembers her and shares some interesting anecdotes with our readers.

SMITA PATIL

When Smita Patil blazed the silver screen with her powerhouse performances in parallel cinema; Bollywood actress Jaya Bhadhuri Bachchan had exclaimed, “Smita Patil is an actress whose performance makes you sit up and take notice. She is sheer natural and her face has incredible mobility. It would not be wrong to term her as the queen of Indian parallel Cinema.”

In the 70's when Bollywood was ruled by male dominated superstars like Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Jeetendra, Dharmendra etc, Smita Patil brought a revolution in the Indian Cinema by doing exclusive movies that were women centric and focused on women empowerment like MANTHAN, BHUMIKA, SUBHA, CHAKRA, MIRCH MASALA, MANDI, BAZAAR.

In fact she was not just interested in doing movies that tackled women issues but she herself was associated as a member of the Women's Centre in Mumbai. Readers might be surprised to know that her fondness for women cause was so intense that when she won her first National Film Award for Best Actress in BHUMIKA, she donated the prize money for the noble cause of women upliftment.

Saluting her outstanding histrionics, she was given a unique honour of a Retrospective in Rochelle festival (1984) and Retrospective in Paris (2010). Till date no Asian actors has won this prestige. Smita Patil is the ‘Only Asian' cine-star to receive this honour.